DC TV Watch: 'Black Lightning' Drops Major Comic Book Easter Egg

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THR rounds up the major twists, new mysteries and more from all the DC Comics TV series.

Welcome back to The Hollywood Reporter's weekly DC TV Watch, a rundown of all things DC Comics on TV. Every Friday, we round up the major twists, epic fights, new mysteries and anything else that goes down on TheCW's Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl and Black Lightning and Fox's Gotham. Note: Legends of Tomorrow and Gotham did not air new episodes this week.

Black Lightning

Lightning and the thunder | Imagine Dragons' recently released catchy song that's been playing everywhere couldn't have been timed any more perfectly to the debut of Black Lightning. Only three episodes in and Jefferson's (Cress Williams) daughter Anissa (Nafessa Williams) has already figured out how to control her powers through breathing. It only took one night at an abandoned junkyard of practice before she was easily kicking an old washing machine like it was a stray pebble in her way. She's excited about her superstrength, and viewers don't have to suffer through any crisis of conscience that usually comes with the sudden onset of superpowers.

Time for some light reading | But the most exciting part of her journey toward becoming Thunder was her meet cute with Grace (Chantal Thuy), as comic book fans know that they're destined to become quite the formidable couple. If The CW's newest DC Comics drama follows the source material, Anissa and Grace will be more than just a couple in love; they'll be fighting crime alongside each other. But Black Lightning introduced their comic book team Outsiders in a literal comic book that Grace recommended to Anissa in the library. Does that mean the TV series won't be bringing the Outsiders to life? Is this Easter egg just that: a fun nod to the comics? It's fitting that the Outsiders brought Anissa and Grace together onscreen as it does in the comics, but hopefully there's more to the superhero team than just fun reading material for the characters. One of the Outsiders' main villains, Lady Eve (Jill Scott), showed up in this week's episode as a mobster with a penchant for thank-you notes, so perhaps there's more connections to come than fans may expect after this scene.

What's he hiding? | Gambi (James Remar) is definitely up to something shady. After Jefferson's presumed-dead nemesis Tobias Whale (Marvin "Krondon" Jones III) showed up to the anti-gang march to shoot the pastor leading the Freeland residents, his face was caught on security camera footage. Gambi then erased the footage, muttering an apology under his breath to Jefferson, hiding the fact that Tobias is still alive. Why does he want to keep that information from Jefferson? Is he secretly working for Tobias? Or does he just not want Jefferson to get himself killed trying to take out Tobias again? No matter his reasoning, Jefferson won't be happy when he learns about Gambi's secret.

Supergirl

How bulletproof is she? |Supergirl already introduced the idea that Sam (Odette Annable) is bulletproof from the beginning of this season, even when she's not Reign and just her normal self. But when Alex (Chyler Leigh) tried to draw blood during her medical tests on Sam in this week's episode, the needle pierced her arm without any trouble. Why is she suddenly vulnerable? And now that all the medical tests came back normal, what's Sam's next step in trying to figure out why she's losing so much time? Will she figure out she's Reign before Reign takes over permanently? Also: major bonus points to Supergirl for fitting in that sly Grey's Anatomy reference when Alex used her Seattle-honed doctor skills on Sam.

The Flash

Outing himself | Barry (Grant Gustin) clearly believes in the justice system if he's willing to stay in jail long enough for STAR Labs to clear his name. But he definitely doesn't believe in the justice system enough to do the same for his new jail friend Big Sir (Bill Goldberg). After only one episode of the STAR Labs team trying to clear Big Sir's name for the crime he didn't commit 15 years ago, they learned the real culprit's name and caught him. But since the real criminal refused to confess, Barry used his Flash powers to whisk Big Sir out of jail and away to China, so he could achieve his dream of seeing Jiaju with his own eyes. But Barry was caught on tape by the warden. That's not good for two reasons: 1. Barry just outed himself as the Flash on video; and 2. the warden sells metahuman prisoners to Amunet Black (Katee Sackhoff). Barry did a kind thing for his friend, but he wasted his only opportunity to break himself out of jail. Oops.

Arrow

Scene change! |Arrow quietly debuted a mini-crossover this week in flashbacks to when Dinah (Juliana Harkavy) met Vince/Vigilante (Johann Urb) for the first time. Since they worked in Central City as undercover cops, viewers were treated to a few scenes in the Flash's home city and former workplace, as well as a surprise appearance by Captain Singh (Patrick Sabongui)! This is the added fun of having an extended, multiseries universe, so more of these small crossover Easter eggs across all the shows, please.

Too late | Turns out Vigilante was actually one of the good guys, working undercover to take down Cayden James (Michael Emerson) from inside his inner circle. But he proved his loyalty too late, and Cayden ordered Black Siren (Katie Cassidy) to use her metahuman scream to kill Vince at point blank range. Dinah was forced to watch her love die right in front of her for a second time, and his metahuman healing powers weren't enough to save him. Dinah just can't catch a break, and she blames Oliver (Stephen Amell) for Vince's death since he didn't believe Vince was good. Her thinking: Maybe if Oliver trusted Vince sooner, he wouldn't have died. And the fact that they didn't even find Cayden's bomb didn't do anything to soothe her anger. Now she's out for blood, and the first target on her list is none other than Laurel.

Gotham returns this spring on Fox. Supergirl airs Mondays, The Flash and Black Lightning air Tuesdays, Arrow airs Thursdays, and Legends of Tomorrow will return next month, all on The CW.